President Bola Tinubu has endorsed the consensus candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagos State, Obafemi Hamzat, for the 2027 governorship election.
Tinubu endorsed Hamzat on Wednesday following a meeting with members of the Governance Advisory Council (GAC) of the Lagos APC at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.
GAC members were led by Tajudeen Olusi and Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State.
“President Tinubu formally endorses the Lagos APC consensus governorship candidate Obafemi Hamzat at a meeting with members of the Lagos Governance Advisory Council, led by Prince Tajudeen Oluyole Olusi and Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu,” presidential spokesman Bayo Onanuga wrote, while sharing photos from the meeting on his X handle.
Following the meeting, Sanwo-Olu, who described Hamzat, his deputy, as a “reliable partner”, said President Tinubu’s endorsement “is a bold statement of trust, confidence, and assurance by our leader that he is truly the best man for the job”.
“I have no doubt that the vision for a greater Lagos we started together will have the leadership it needs to continue,” Sanwo-Olu wrote on his X handle. “There is still much to be done, but the path ahead for Lagos is clear.”
The presidential endorsement is the latest in the growing list of approvals for Hamzat’s governorship bid next year.
On Tuesday, the Governance Advisory Council (GAC), the highest decision-making body of the Lagos APC, backed Hamzat’s bid for the governorship seat.
After a meeting of party leaders at Lagos House, Marina, the chairman of the GAC, Olusi, said all 21 members of the advisory group will be backing the deputy governor’s ambition.
“The constitution of our party provides for primaries, and our party has guaranteed free primaries for all members, for all aspirants, for all interested individuals. However, that very constitution also allows us to look at the issue of consensus. Consensus is a platform, a means that can bring us together, that can bring peace and unity,” Olusi said.
“Following this option we have adopted, we have all agreed that Dr. Obafemi Hamzat, the current Deputy Governor of our state, is the consensus candidate of our party, and we have all pledged to stand by him. That is the information.”
Earlier, Sanwo-Olu backed Hamzat for the position, saying the deputy governor has the capacity to lead the megacity.
“And at the end of the day, with the consultation that we’re doing, it was unanimous with all of us in that room to say that the deputy governor is a man who’s fit and ready,” the governor said.
“He’s been well-baked. He’s been well-manicured. He’s been well ‘pepperonied’ for this job.”
Hamzat was elected as deputy governor in 2019 alongside Sanwo-Olu. They were re-elected in 2023 to serve a fresh four-year term.
Before his deputy governorship role, the 61-year-old served as commissioner under Tinubu’s tenure as Lagos State governor.
He was also a commissioner during the administration of ex-governor Babatunde Fashola, who led Lagos from 2007 to 2015.
